BTC Markets becomes exchange partner of blockchain powered gold player Meld

Australian cryptocurrency and digital asset exchange BTC Markets has welcomed a new gold specialist to its platform amid significant investor demand for the precious metal.

Meld Gold, an Australian early stage tech company, allows investors to trade digital gold certificates that are backed by physical gold.

Currently the gold market provides limited access and little visibility into its supply chain, which makes trading time-consuming, expensive, and inefficient. Meld has partnered with world leading blockchain protocol Algorand to directly connect buyers and sellers on a digital platform.

Unlike some digital assets, users can redeem the certificates for physical gold. Each Meld Gold certificate is worth 1 gram of physical gold at 999.9 purity.

Meld founder and director Michael Cotton said the Queensland-based group is excited to create world first innovations within the gold industry.

“We are developing systems to streamline and connect the entire supply chain with investors and retail customers alike, offering gold in a way that is more accessible, tradeable and transactable than ever before,” he said.

“Through the digitising of gold, Meld is able to grant anyone and everyone the access, security and liquidity of the global gold supply chain from their smartphone.”

Steve Kokinos, CEO of Algorand said, “Meld’s selection of Algorand for the underlying technology is bringing efficiency, transparency, and accessibility to the gold market.

“We are excited that Meld is launching on BTC Markets and congratulate them on a major milestone in modernizing the gold industry.”

Digital assets experiencing significant growth

BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bowler said the launch of the Meld gold certificates on the exchange comes as digital assets and cryptocurrencies continue to attract significant demand from investors.

“We have experienced 37 per cent growth in trading on our exchange over the 12 months to October 2020 and a notable demographic shift when it comes to the types of investors seeking out digital assets,” she said.

BTC Markets currently has over 270,000 Australian account holders and has facilitated $10.6 billion of trades since 2013.  It recently ranked sixth in an independent global survey of 79 exchanges for latency – measuring the speed of execution.

“This year we have seen a shift from 25-45-year-old males to a much broader age group, particularly early retirees who are interested in diversifying their investment portfolio and returns. Bitcoin, like gold, is known as a deflationary asset due to limited supply, which has made it an increasingly popular asset class for those seeking a return in a low-rate environment.” 

Digital assets at a ‘tipping point’

BTC Markets believes 2020 has been the tipping point for popular digital assets such as Bitcoin after major financial institutions like JP Morgan recently turned bullish on the cryptocurrency.

“Institutional interest has grown over the past 12 months as regulators in Europe, the United States, and Hong Kong begin to release regulatory guidance on digital assets,” Ms. Bowler said.

“Cryptocurrencies and other digital assets have been around for too long to be dismissed. They are fast becoming part of traditional financial services.”

Commenting on Meld, Ms. Bowler said a gold-backed digital asset provides the best of both worlds for the increasingly diverse group of investors using the BTC Markets exchange.

“The COVID-19 pandemic saw younger investors push in to cryptocurrencies while older investors poured into gold,” she said.

“Having a digital asset provider like Meld that is backed by physical gold will appeal to a broader demographic of investors.”